Characteristics of Scientific Inquiry

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Miksza ◽  
Kenneth Elpus
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Inquiry ◽  
Scientific Reasoning ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Scientific Progress ◽  
Statistical Tools ◽  
Basic Characteristics ◽  
Historical Developments

This chapter introduces the reader to basic characteristics of science and situates the design and analysis considerations presented throughout the book within the context of scientific inquiry. A brief description of key historical developments regarding the philosophy of science is provided. An overview of the fundamental aspects of inductive and deductive scientific reasoning and the importance of falsification to scientific progress is presented. In addition, the values of objectivity and transparency as well as the importance of scientific community are stressed. The usefulness of statistical tools for helping researchers clarify their questions, establish criteria for their judgments, and communicate evidence for their claims is also discussed.

scholarly journals Descriptions of Scientific Revolutions

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-43
Author(s):  
Kyle Cavagnini
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Inquiry ◽  
Scientific Theory ◽  
Scientific Progress ◽  
Richard Rorty ◽  
Paradigm Change ◽  
Scientific Revolutions ◽  
Structure Of Scientific Revolutions

The twentieth century saw extended development in the philosophy of science to incorporate contemporary expansions of scientific theory and investigation. Richard Rorty was a prominent and rather controversial thinker who maintained that all progress, from social change to scientific inquiry, was achieved through the redescription of existing vocabularies. However, this theory fails to describe revolutionary scientific progress. Thomas Kuhn’s theories of paradigm change, as first described in his seminal work The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, better portray this process. I attempt to show this by applying Kuhn’s and Rorty’s views to examples of scientific progress and comparing the results.

scholarly journals How should novelty be valued in science?

eLife ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barak A Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Predictive Power ◽  
Sociology Of Science ◽  
Scientific Progress ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Good Science ◽  
And Function ◽  
Current Emphasis

Scientists are under increasing pressure to do "novel" research. Here I explore whether there are risks to overemphasizing novelty when deciding what constitutes good science. I review studies from the philosophy of science to help understand how important an explicit emphasis on novelty might be for scientific progress. I also review studies from the sociology of science to anticipate how emphasizing novelty might impact the structure and function of the scientific community. I conclude that placing too much value on novelty could have counterproductive effects on both the rate of progress in science and the organization of the scientific community. I finish by recommending that our current emphasis on novelty be replaced by a renewed emphasis on predictive power as a characteristic of good science.

scholarly journals When Does HARKing Hurt? Identifying When Different Types of Undisclosed Post Hoc Hypothesizing Harm Scientific Progress

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 308-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Rubin
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Literature Search ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Scientific Progress ◽  
Research Report ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Replication Crisis ◽  
Post Hoc

Hypothesizing after the results are known, or HARKing, occurs when researchers check their research results and then add or remove hypotheses on the basis of those results without acknowledging this process in their research report ( Kerr, 1998 ). In the present article, I discuss 3 forms of HARKing: (a) using current results to construct post hoc hypotheses that are then reported as if they were a priori hypotheses; (b) retrieving hypotheses from a post hoc literature search and reporting them as a priori hypotheses; and (c) failing to report a priori hypotheses that are unsupported by the current results. These 3 types of HARKing are often characterized as being bad for science and a potential cause of the current replication crisis. In the present article, I use insights from the philosophy of science to present a more nuanced view. Specifically, I identify the conditions under which each of these 3 types of HARKing is most and least likely to be bad for science. I conclude with a brief discussion about the ethics of each type of HARKing.

Confronting Scientific Misconceptions by Fostering a Classroom of Scientists in the Introductory Biology Lab

2014 ◽  
Vol 76 (8) ◽  
pp. 518-523
Author(s):  
Matthew L. Holding ◽  
Robert D. Denton ◽  
Amy E. Kulesza ◽  
Judith S. Ridgway
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Inquiry ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Introductory Biology ◽  
Fundamental Component ◽  
Hands On ◽  
Education Levels ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
Science Curricula ◽  
Biology Lab ◽  
Student Inquiry

A fundamental component of science curricula is the understanding of scientific inquiry. Although recent trends favor using student inquiry to learn concepts through hands-on activities, it is often unclear to students where the line is drawn between the content and the process of science. This activity explicitly introduces students to the processes of science and allows the classroom to become a scientific community where independent studies are performed, shared, and revised. We designed this activity to be relatively independent of the chosen content, allowing instructors to utilize the presented framework for classes of various disciplines and education levels.

Conceptualizing Computer Simulations in Philosophy of Science

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-169
Author(s):  
Timur V. Khamdamov ◽  
Mikhail Yu. Voloshin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Computer Simulations ◽  
Russian Philosophy ◽  
Main Role ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Taxonomic Problem ◽  
Basic Characteristics ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Impact

In the modern Russian philosophy, discussions about the phenomenon of computer simulations in the scientific research practice of conducting experiments are just beginning to pass the stage of initiation in small interdisciplinary groups studying this new direction for the philosophy of science. At the same time, in Western philosophy by the current moment there have been formed entire directions for the study of computer simulations. Different groups of researchers in different ways form ideas about the basic characteristics of simulations: from skeptical views on their nature, which are of no philosophical interest, to extremely revolutionary attitudes that assign simulations to the main role in the next expected turn of philosophy, comparable in its power to the linguistic turn in early XX century. One of the main controversial issues in Western philosophical thought was the search for relevant criteria and signs of simulations that could create a solid basis for formulating a rigorous definition of this phenomenon. Thus, through the definition, researchers first of all try, on the one hand, to solve the taxonomic problem of the correlation and interconnection of simulations with other types of experiment: natural, laboratory, mental, mathematical. On the other hand, to reveal for philosophy ontological and epistemological foundations of simulations, which carry the potential of new philosophical knowledge. This article is devoted to a brief review of the existing concepts of representatives of Western schools of thought on the phenomenon of computer simulations in the context of the philosophy of science. The structure of the review is built on three basic conceptual directions: 1) definition of the term "computer simulation"; 2) computer simulations as an experiment; 3) the epistemic value of simulations. Such a review can become the subject of discussion for Russian researchers interested in the impact of computer simulations on science and philosophy.

Adaptive Design, Contingency, and Ontological Principles for Limited Beings

2021 ◽  
Vol 88 (5) ◽  
pp. 871-881
Author(s):  
Daniel S. Brooks
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Reasoning ◽  
Adaptive Design ◽  
Natural Phenomena ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
Transcendental Arguments ◽  
Productive Role

Transcendental arguments are not popular in contemporary philosophy of science. They are typically seen as antinaturalistic and incapable of providing explanatory force in accounting for natural phenomena. However, when viewed as providing (certain types of) intelligibility to complicated concepts used in scientific reasoning, a concrete and productive role is recoverable for transcendental reasoning in philosophy of science. In this article I argue that the resources, and possibly the need, for such a role are available within a thoroughly naturalistic framework garnered from the work of Hasok Chang and William Wimsatt.

scholarly journals The Algorithm of Information and the Origin of Basic Particles

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 479-497
Author(s):  
Bhekuzulu Khumalo
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Elementary Particles ◽  
Basic Particle ◽  
Basic Characteristics

Everything is information because everything will inform you about itself through our senses, there is no other way to say it when discussing the philosophy of science. All information has similar basic characteristics including randomness. The reality of randomness gave the concepts to the theory of the algorithm of information the basis of all degrees of randomness. Everything is about relationships; the algorithm of information is the tool existence uses to determine the chances of relationships. If everything is about relationships, then relationships must begin with the particles. Not the basic particles having relationships with other basic particles as it was first postulated. The basic particle itself must be the result of an event and thus a relationship, it was not always there. This paper aims to shed some light on the question of where do particles come from? What relationships led to the event that created elementary particles?

scholarly journals EDITORIAL

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 02 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. V. C. Vargas
Keyword(s):  
Energy Conversion ◽  
Surface Science ◽  
Alternative Energy ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Scientific Progress ◽  
Policy Science ◽  
Thermal Engineering ◽  
Energy Conversion And Storage ◽  
And Storage

The editorial of Engenharia Térmica of this issue continues the discussion on scientific research needs in vital areas in which thermal engineering has important participation. The main goal is to motivate the readers, within their specialties, to identify possible subjects for their future research.In the beginning of the 21st century the international scientific community pointed out that there was a need for increased push towards alternative energy technologies to replace fossil and nuclear sources in the near future, in order to determine what is scientifically possible, environmentally acceptable and technologically promising. Also, the scientists recalled that policy, science and technology need to work together harmoniously, which are responsible for acceptability, possibility and practicability, respectively. A great amount of diversity with the exploration of innovative nanomaterials and their hybrid assemblies for energy conversion and storage have been seen in energy research. Advances in time-resolved spectroscopy, surface science, imaging techniques, and various in situ and operando characterization techniques are providing new insights into energy conversion and storage processes. The same challenges continue to be up-to-date as discussed by the scientific community recently, showing that technically and economically viable renewable energy generation and storage are major hurdles to be overcome. For that, some research areas that need to be pursued in the energy field were listed: energy materials; electrochemical energy conversion and energy storage; solar cells; solar fuels; LED and display devices, and last but not least theory and computational modeling. Such areas represent a few potential opportunities, which in the opinion of Engenharia Térmica have the potential for important scientific advances.The mission of Engenharia Térmica is to document the scientific progress in areas related to thermal engineering (e.g., energy, oil and renewable fuels). We are confident that we will continue to receive articles’ submissions that contribute to the progress of science.

Scientific Change

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anouk Barberousse
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
History Of Science ◽  
Scientific Method ◽  
Scientific Progress ◽  
Scientific Change ◽  
General Question ◽  
Scientific Enterprise ◽  
History Of ◽  
Dynamics Of Science

How should we think of the dynamics of science? What are the relationships between an earlier theory and the theory that has superseded it? This chapter introduces the heated debates on the nature of scientific change, at the intersection of philosophy of science and history of science, and their bearing on the more general question of the rationality of the scientific enterprise. It focuses on the issue of the continuity or discontinuity of scientific change and the various versions of the incommensurability thesis one may uphold. Historicist views are balanced against nagging questions regarding scientific progress (Is there such a thing? If so, how should it be defined?), the causes of scientific change (Are they to be found within scientific method itself?), and its necessity (Is the history of scientific developments an argument in favor of realism, or could we have had entirely different sciences?).

Keynes, John Maynard (1883–1946)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Schabas
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
General Theory ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Reasoning ◽  
Inductive Logic ◽  
John Stuart Mill ◽  
Interpretation Of Probability ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Sound Judgment

Keynes is best known as an economist but, in the tradition of John Stuart Mill and William Stanley Jevons, he also made significant contributions to inductive logic and the philosophy of science. Keynes’ only book explicitly on philosophy, A Treatise on Probability (1921), remains an important classic on the subject. It develops a non-frequentist interpretation of probability as the key to sound judgment and scientific reasoning. His General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936) is the watershed of twentieth-century macroeconomics. While not, strictly speaking, a philosophical work, it nonetheless advances distinct readings of rationality, uncertainty and social justice.

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